Sarah and I met up with the rest of our fellow Stockport Community Cycling Club members at Wilmslow Leisure Centre for this Anderton Boat Lift 2018 thirty mile ride. Things didn’t start too well, however, due to roads in the centre of Wilmslow being closed to enable line painting.

Andy Sykes was today’s ride leader.

It was a lovely summer day for cycling, and eventually, we set off around the back streets of Wilmslow.

Then along Knutsford Road.

After a few miles, we turned off on to quieter lanes as we made our way towards Ollerton.

We next cycled through Toft.

And then the Peovers.

Next, we joined NCN Route 573.

This took us toward Northwich.

It is always tricky around Northwich. We had to cross the busy A556, and Middlewich Road towards and through the town centre was also extremely busy.

Eventually, we were able to turn off onto Old Warrington Road.

This took us into Uplands, part of Northwich Woodlands.

We followed the paths through the Uplands section of the forest.

At the far end of the forest, we arrived at Anderton Boat Lift.

The boat lift is a marvellous piece of Victorian engineering. It is a two caisson lift lock which lifts barges and boats 50 feet between the River Weaver to the Trent and Mersey Canal. It is still in use today.

At the Visitor Centre, there is also the Anderton Boat Lift cafe. Here we took time out and enjoyed lunch.

After lunch, we joined Local Network Route, another section of the Cheshire Cycleway which we had cycled along recently.

This took us through Comberbach,

However, a little further on we were met with another road closure requiring a detour around it.

Soon we arrived in Northwich.

We took a breather in the park.

The climb out of Northwich Park is short, but sharp.

Glynis felt triumphant when arriving at the top without stopping.

Then it was on to Mobberley.

Finally, we returned along Burleyhurst Lane back to Wilmslow.

We had cycled nearly 35 miles on this Anderton Boat Lift 2018 cycle ride. And when the weather is as pleasant as it was, getting out on your bike makes for a fabulous day.